Circular saws are known in the art. A growth in circular saw applications has created many derivative circular saw designs for each specific type of use. Many of these applications require changes to motor platforms, blade guarding and gear cases. Specifically, most circular saw designs do not allow different motor sizes to fit the same housing. This requires a housing redesign and a new transmission for each different or new motor size. The transmission or gear case is typically the most complex component to develop and dimensionally qualify because it has the most stringent tolerances and becomes the foundation for all the other structure that is mounted to it. Hence, the product development time for a derivative circular saw is extensive and somewhat prohibitive.
In addition, there is a need for a left and right hand blade applications with respect to the handle set for many circular saw designs, which usually requires a handle set redesign. The design of the handle set is complicated because generally battery applications or power sources fit onto the handle set. Thus, development of a new handle set for each circular saw product creates a tremendous amount of design resources, tooling cost and development time.
Accordingly, a need exists for a modular power tool for a circular saw application having the ability to incorporate numerous gear cases, motor platforms and guard designs, with a handle operable in both a left hand and right hand configuration.